Draft picks past and present
Looking a little deeper into Garrett Olson's start last night for Triple-A Norfolk, the left-hander retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. Sixty-five of his 98 pitches were strikes.
That's 98 pitches in seven innings, not 3 2/3.
Olson struck out a season-high nine. He also reminded the Orioles what he's capable of doing when he's aggressive on the mound and goes after hitters.
Tonight, the Tides face Durham left-hander David Price, the top overall pick in the 2007 draft out of Vanderbilt University.
Speaking of Vanderbilt, did you hear about the latest development with Pirates first-round pick Pedro Alvarez? They placed him on the suspended list after the third baseman's agent, Scott Boras, informed the club that he wants to renegotiate the contract they agreed to on Aug. 15 because Boras claims it's invalid.
The Pirates and Alvarez settled on a $6 million signing bonus, a generous amount coming from a low-budget organization that only opens its wallet when showing off pictures of its grandchildren. But Boras says the deal wasn't finalized until after the midnight deadline.
The players association has filed a grievance on Alvarez's behalf, claiming that the Pirates didn't bargain in good faith by bypassing Boras and negotiating with Alvarez.
"Regrettably, we are not surprised that Mr. Boras would attempt to raise a meritless legal claim in an effort to compel us to renegotiate Pedro's contract to one more to his liking," said Pirates president Frank Coonelly. "We are, however, disappointed that Pedro would allow his agent to pursue this claim on his behalf. Pedro showed tremendous fortitude and independent thinking when he agreed to his contract on Aug. 15."
This won't go over well with Pirates fans. Not in that city. It wouldn't exactly play here, either.
So $6 million isn't enough for you? You make a deal and then try to break it?
Alvarez is going to have a rough time, no matter how this matter is resolved. It doesn't appear that Boras is doing the kid any favors.
Coonelly understands the draft rules better than most, since he was Major League Baseball's chief labor counsel before joining the Pirates' front ofice last September. This is going to be interesting.
Meanwhile, the Orioles' top pick, Brian Matusz, is expected to report to the Arizona Fall League. All is well. The club is thrilled to have him in the organization. He made a wonderful impression during his two visits to Baltimore.
Matusz has a solid, supportive family, so it's no accident that he turned out this way. As my father always says, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
In case you hadn't heard, the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship returns to the Baltimore Country Club on October 6-12. They're looking for volunteers. For more information, you can visit the official tournament website at www.ceseniorplayers.com.
My clubs are collecting dust in my storeage unit. Haven't swung them in years. I was afraid I'd hurt somebody.
The field of 78, competing for a share of the $2.6 million purse, includes defending champion Loren Roberts, Tom Kite, Mark O'Meara, Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk. The winner receives $390,000.
Net proceeds from the tournament will support local Baltimore-area charities. Since the inception of both the Senior Players Championship and the former Constellation Energy Classic, nearly $8.5 million has been raised for charities in the communities in which the tournaments were staged.
Scott Boras... a real life example of human vermin.
Boras might be angling to have his client declared a free agent, in which case he could get teams to line up in bidding for him. Didn't that happen with a few draftees in the past?
Major League Baseball has its very own Satan. His name is Scott Boras.
Roch, from what I have heard on XM175 this morning they are scheduled for binding arbitration in September. Apparently the most likey outcome based on arbitration precedence would be for the arbitor to say that it was after the time but is still a valid contract and tell MLB - Don't do it again.
I also understand that becaue Boras hadn't reached an agreement fast enough Alverez took over and concluded negotiations without Boras. I think Boras is trying to kill the draft so he can negotiate with anyone and have them bid against each other.
Boras should run for office.
Roch-- agree that Boras and the city of Pittsburgh won't mix well.
Ray-- very good idea to bring in Zaun or someone similar who has a little juice left but knows the game inside and out, works hard, and is like a player coach. Great for Weiters and a platoon roll-- good for Zaun because he extends his career and can give back to the game (and be closer to family gatherings). The only drawback would be listening to Dempsey faun over him! :)
The thing I like about the O's minor league options is that we are now in a position of bringing up players who dominated in their respective leagues. We are no longer bringing up guys who hit .280 with 7 HRs in AAA. We are bringing up triple crown calibre guys and pitchers with sub 1.00 ERAs. They may fail up here for a while-- but they actually have growth potential. I think that is the main reason for optimism and seems to have been MacPhail's plan. If that means no Texiera to keep this system in tact... so be it.
Somewhere along the line baseball needs to take a stand against Boras.The NFL has decertified agents for unfair bargaining tactics and this seems to be a prime example. Right now it appears that the player has lost his amateur status and forfeited his right to play elsewhere. Boras is simply trying to recruit next years prospects while he is destroying Alvarezs' future relationship with the Pittsburgh fans. All this so that he can claim to have provided Alvarez with the largest bonus in the draft. When will baseball decertify him and allow the legal process to affirm their right to do so. His refusal to honor the previously agreed upon contract should be exhibit 1 in a long list of questionable deeds.
Boras is a snake. He's just doing this because Posey got $200K more than Alvarez, which embarrases to Boras. I hope this backfires on him.
Let's hope Matusz can replicate Price's rapid ascension and not have the same struggles as Olson once he does. I'm not ready to give up on Olson yet, however. I think he can be an effective big league pitcher and I think Liz can too. It's pretty startling to look at the O's run differential this year, which is a pretty telling stat given that the amount of runs a team scores is determinative of whether it wins or loses a game. The O's are fourth in the AL in runs scored (fifth in all of baseball with the Cubs being the only NL team to have outscored them (Texas, Boston and the White Sox have done so in the AL)). By contrast, we are the second worst in the AL and third worst in the majors in runs allowed--with only the Pirates and Rangers giving up more. It's not hard to figure out why Andy is stocking the minors with pitching.
All you have to do is look at the Rays to see that once the pitching arrives, we should be able to contend. They've scored 82 fewer runs than we have, but have allowed a whopping 161 fewer runs. Scoring about half a run less per game than we have while allowing more than a full run per game less has translated into an 17 more wins 18 game lead over us in the standings. Pretty compelling.
Matusz to AFL? Well since they can only send one player under AA ball does this mean that Matusz is officaly assigned to Bowie?
Does Alvarez lose his ability to go back to school if he doesn't join the Pirates? Has he offically signed on with Boras or is he still just an advisor?
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The Orioles haven't officially assigned Matusz to AFL, but that was the assumption. He certainly prefers it, having grown up in Phoenix. But he could end up in the Hawaiian Winter League. I don't believe Alvarez can go back to school now. He could, however, play for an independent team. We've seen guys go that route before. However, I don't think it'll get that far. I don't see MLB letting Alvarez out of the deal. - Roch